This three-volume lectionary is designed to grace the large rooms where Mass is celebrated and to ensure the entire assembly’s appreciation of the significance of the readings it holds. The design objective was to display the three Scripture readings per Sunday with utmost clarity and dignity while eliminating disruptive page-turnings whenever possible. Viewing the opened book as a double-page spread, primary factors determined the structural proportions and typography: the size of the book, reading distance, traditional line breaks and the rhythm of reading. The visually pleasing line length of the text assists the lector in public proclamation of the sacred Scripture. The use of vermilion (the traditional second color) and of generous margins also allow the coordinated and consistent presentation of emphasized, secondary and reference texts, while the wide outer margins provide space for the lector’s thumb and forefinger.

The cover is a bright garment for a gift of creation: through the work of human hands, the wood of trees becomes paper and pages. The images may be seen as either the Tree of Life that begins the story of Genesis or as the tree of Jesus crucified, as either streams and pools of water or as rays of light and planetary orbits. Finally, foils of different colors replace the imbedded jewels that traditionally served as ornament and symbol.